He arrived in Brisbane yesterday only.
They've never played against each other with Dent.

An article from the Sunday Mail State Edition about his preparation:

Quote:

Gael sweats it out in Adelaide
WHILE most of the world’s top tennis players plump for glitz and fanfare ahead of tomorrow’s season opener, the Brisbane International, French world No 13 Gael Monfils this week opted instead for the peace and solitude of Adelaide.
We caught Monfils hitting up with his Adelaide based coach Roger Rasheed at Memoriali Drive in 441C heat on New Year’s Eve.
It’s part of a program Rasheed has designed, getting Monfils back to basics, to ensure he is in prime condition for an assault at the Australian Open.
“Your body has to be ready for the hot weather,” Monfils said.
“So that’s why you come in at 3pm when the sun is very strong. I think my body is ready.’’
Monfils reached a career-high ranking of nine last year.
“I don’t think it was a great year,” he said.
“I think it was tricky, a lot of up and-down, but I think 2010 will be much better.”
He said Rasheed had made a huge difference to his make-up – on and off the court.
“I’ve learned a lot – first the Aussie style, a couple of expressions. My English is a lot better,” Monfils quipped.
“He makes me feel more professional because before I was a bit up-and-down.
“I think I’m playing a lot of my best now. I can go more on the net. I feel more confident with the net game, my serve and my forehand – so he brings me a lot of good stuff.”
Rasheed said he felt his protégé – who he once described as being “the Buddy Franklin of tennis due to his natural athletic talent” – was ready to take the next big step to Grand Slam glory.
“You never really know when tthese guys are going to jump out but he certainly has the game that can win over two weeks,” he said.
“Gael’s got a big game – he’s got a lot of weapons. He’s just got to put those in the court as much as possible.”

Nope no stream anywhere (which is a bit strange). Looks like we won't be able to see him tommorrow either, he plays fourth on court 1 against Serra. Apparently a freaking semi-retired BLAKE is more attractive than him on center court.

2h13 is not nearly 3 hours!
It's a good result to me, Dent was a tricky opponent for a first match.

Quote:

Monfils dances into second roundA “tired and sore” Gael Monfils scrapped to a three sets victory over big-serving American Taylor Dent in a gripping first round match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament on Tuesday night.

Third seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils overcame a shoulder injury and a tenacious Florent Serra to make his way into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International on Wednesday.

Serra played some inspired tennis to push Monfils right to the limit, before appearing to tire in the decider and allow his higher-ranked countryman to run away with the match 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.

Monfils was forced to call for the trainer at the end of the first set and had his shoulder heavily strapped during the time-out.

The injury seemed to take its toll as Serra opened up a 3-0 lead at the start of the second, but Monfils fought back and took the set to a tiebreak, before running away with the third.

"I pulled my muscle a bit last week," he said of his shoulder injury.

"Last week I did a lot of weights and it's been hurting me for some time.

"I decided today to come on the court without tape and I think that was a mistake."

Monfils said he was happy with how he had served despite the pain.

"Two, three shots after the serve it hurt a little bit," he said.

"I will take some anti-inflammatories or painkillers, work on it, ice it, and hopefully tomorrow it will be much better.